Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met this morning at Maximos Mansion with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
During their meeting, they discussed the latest developments in Iran and the broader Middle East region.
The Prime Minister underlined Greece’s role as a force for stability and a reliable partner in the region, and reiterated the need to find a diplomatic solution that will ensure a sustainable peace. He also stressed the need to fully guarantee freedom of navigation, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz.
They also discussed the situation in Lebanon, the need to support the Lebanese government, to maintain the ceasefire, and to reach a peace agreement that would promote security and stability in the region.
The Prime Minister and the Emir of Qatar agreed to move toward a strengthened and expanded form of cooperation, covering areas such as trade, energy and connectivity, defense, agri-food products, culture, and education.
During the visit, a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of Agriculture was signed between the Ministry of Rural Development and Food and the Ministry of Municipality of Qatar.
The investment opportunities emerging in Greece were also discussed, focusing on the sectors of infrastructure and data centers, energy, and hospitality.
At the beginning of their meeting, the Prime Minister and the Emir of Qatar had the following dialogue:
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Your Highness, thank you so much, first of all, for making the trip, because I know these are difficult times for the region. And I very much appreciate the fact that you are here today to discuss both the regional developments, which are very concerning, but of course also the bilateral cooperation between our two countries, which seems to be going from strength to strength.
Let me, first of all, start by saying that Greece has stood by all GCC countries, and in particular Qatar, in support of your country against the unprovoked attacks by Iran. And we very much value your role and your contribution towards achieving a ceasefire and hopefully a permanent peace that will ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and that will allow us to overcome this significant global economic crisis which has affected all our economies. And I know you are someone who understands the region very deeply, and I very much look forward to our discussion.
But I would also like to say a word about our bilateral relationships, especially our economic relationships. I very much value the commitment of Qatar to invest in Greece. As you know, our economy has been making significant progress over the past years. We are the country that is exhibiting the largest decline of debt as a percentage of GDP in the history of all OECD countries. We’re growing at a much faster pace than the eurozone average. We’re a friendly country to foreign investments, and I know that this is something that interests you a lot.
And I’m sure that this meeting will give us an opportunity to add a new impetus to this economic bilateral relationship, on top of the agreement that we will sign.
So again, thank you so much for taking the time to visit us in these turbulent times, and I very much look forward to our discussion.
Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani: Prime Minister, first of all, thank you very much for receiving me. I’m very happy to see you. My last visit was two years ago, I think. And of course, during this period, we saw each other many times and we spoke to each other many times.
I want to, first of all, thank you, Prime Minister, and your country for standing by your friends during this ongoing conflict in our region, and with Qatar as well. So we really appreciate that, Prime Minister. Of course, we all hope that this conflict will end very soon through negotiations and, of course, we’re following every step in this. So thank you very much, Prime Minister.
And of course, our great bilateral relationship, we have a great historic relationship. And I’m very proud to say that we are very happy with this relationship. And of course, our investments in Greece are doing great.
As you mentioned, your economy is doing very well under your leadership. And we’re also looking for other opportunities as well to do more investments in your country.
We have also other cooperation that we have been discussing lately, which is military cooperation, which is something very important. Looking at what’s happening around the world, I think it’s very important to strengthen those ties as well.
So thank you very much for receiving me, Prime Minister. I’m always very happy to be here in Athens.
